TAKE NOTE — A NEW POLL FINDS AMERICANS WANT A LESS AMBITIOUS U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: “Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs even as a showdown with Russia over Ukraine preoccupies Washington, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

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“In a marked change from past decades, nearly half of those surveyed want the U.S. to be less active on the global stage, with fewer than one-fifth calling for more active engagement — an anti-interventionist current that sweeps across party lines,” reports The Wall Street Journal’s Janet Hook. http://on.wsj.com/1jgy1GB

HAGEL POWWOWS WITH CZECH COUNTERPART: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met yesterday with Czech Republic Minister of Defense Martin Stropnicky at the Pentagon, where the two discussed “ways that the United States and the Czech Republic can support ongoing NATO exercises and activities in the Baltic region,” according to a readout of their meeting provided by DoD. http://1.usa.gov/1hU4WvM

Today, Hagel will join Stropnicky and leaders from 12 European nations at the Atlantic Council’s “Toward a Europe Whole and Free” conference to “continue these discussions on the importance of the transatlantic alliance,” DoD said.

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, DoD IS BUYING THOSE Mi-17 HELICOPTERS FOR THE AFGHANS: “The Defense Department is proceeding with purchases of Russian-made helicopters for the Afghan military even as the Obama administration toughens its sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis,” reports POLITICO’s Philip Ewing. http://politico.pro/1kczHh1

“Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that the Defense Department’s plan to buy the Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters for the Afghan National Security Forces is ‘separate and apart’ from the State and Treasury Department restrictions, including defense sanctions, announced a day before.”

If you don’t already know, the Russian-made helicopters are cheaper, easier to maintain, more rugged and easier to fly than American-made military helicopters. At least, that’s what DoD says.

Still, “helicopter advocates in Congress, including Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, whose home state includes helicopter giant Sikorsky, have called on Hagel and Obama to cut off the Mi-17 deal over the Ukraine crisis as another way to deliver consequences to Russia,” reports Ewing.

WHERE DOES CARL LEVIN STAND? The powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee made some of his positions known yesterday.

First of all, he intends to “try to save the A-10 Warthog in the new defense authorization bill because he believes its close-air support mission is too important to scrap the planes,” reports POLITICO’s Jeremy Herb. http://politico.pro/1ixmzHN

-- BUT HE DOESN’T WANT TO FREEZE ARMY GUARD CUTS: The Army just won a big ally in its most heated budget battle. The Michigan Democrat said he opposes a proposal that would freeze cuts to the Army Guard and Reserve until a commission issues a report on the structure of the Army.

He said he would not object to establishing a commission to study the Army’s active-duty and reserves balance, but that the commission should not prevent the Army’s cuts from moving forward.

“I DON’T SEE MYSELF IN A ROLE OF SELLING THE ARMY … My job is actually not to sell the Army, it’s to build the Army and to meet the requirements our nation puts on us,” Gen. David Perkins said yesterday. “But what I do have to do is describe it.”

And the head of the Army Training and Doctrine Command tried to do just that during his appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He avoided pinpointing the exact future threat that would require the U.S. to maintain a large, standing active-duty army. Instead, he warned that whatever future scenario is predicted will likely be the exact one that does not come true. “Our vulnerabilities are the things we can’t conceive,” he said.

For that reason, leader development becomes the big hedge against an uncertain future, he added. No matter what the challenge is — whether in the central fields of Europe or downtown Baghdad — soldiers will be prepared to do complex problem-solving.

M&A WATCH — INTRODUCING ORBITAL ATK: “Orbital Sciences and Alliant Techsystems announced Tuesday they will merge their aerospace and defense businesses into a $4.5 billion contractor, in a move that could foreshadow future consolidation within the defense industry,” reports POLITICO’s Leigh Munsil.

As part of the deal, “ATK will spin off its sporting group, which focuses on equipment from hunting rifles to shooting accessories, into a separate company,” Munsil reports. http://politico.pro/1fqnwRL

LOOKING FOR THE HASC SUBCOMMITTEE BILLS? Well, we got ‘em. Four subcommittees released the text of their bills yesterday in advance of today’s markups.

-- The House Seapower subcommittee wants to cut the Navy’s request for three littoral combat ships to only two. Defense News: http://goo.gl/zDCdmj

-- The House personnel panel rejects the Pentagon’s proposed cuts in housing allowances and commissary funding, as well as its request to overhaul the Tricare health care system. Military Times: http://goo.gl/SPQRSH

DO DoD’S CYBER RANGES HAVE ENOUGH OVERSIGHT? Rep. Derek Kilmer of Washington state and Rep. Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts, both Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee, say maybe not. They want the Pentagon to appoint a special official to oversee its more than 60 cyber-ranges operated by the military and its contractors, and make sure tax dollars are well spent.

They’ve introduced legislation that would “increase coordination for cyber and information technology ranges” by Pentagon leaders, they said in a statement, and they hope it gets incorporated into the House version of the NDAA.

THE PENTAGON IS RETHINKING ARMY’S NEW HAIRSTYLE RULES, reports POLITICOs Philip Ewing: “The Pentagon is reviewing its hairstyle regulations for black women after the Congressional Black Caucus complained the Army had unfairly singled them out in new rules on soldiers’ appearances.

“Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sent a letter Tuesday to the caucus chairwoman, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), assuring her no one in the Pentagon meant to ‘discriminate or disparage’ black women in formulating the Army’s new rules.” http://politi.co/1fO1XoV And here’s the letter to Fudge: http://1.usa.gov/S7FSwH

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I grew up in Florida. If it looks like an alligator, it's an alligator,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Kirby on whether pro-Russian forces operating in eastern Ukraine are in fact Russian or at least “influenced” by Moscow. http://1.usa.gov/1mYu8GM

SPEED READ

-- The U.S. government “created an environment that fostered corruption” in Afghanistan, according to a previously undisclosed Pentagon report. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1iBz3Ip

-- The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says it’s sending a fact-finding mission to Syria to investigate whether the government used chlorine gas in attacks against civilians. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1hbTNHp

-- The CIA is trying to equip shoulder-fired missiles, known as MANPADS, with tracking devices before sending them to Syrian rebels. Foreign Policy: http://atfp.co/1m8K3Rr

-- In an op-ed, Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall writes the Pentagon’s program to replace Marine One shows that DoD’s Better Buying Power initiative is working. Defense One: http://goo.gl/yCexIl

-- With Teri Takai leaving, there may not be another DoD chief information officer until there’s a new president in the White House. NextGov: http://goo.gl/QBwZ4x

-- Under pressure from the intelligence community, senators have dropped a demand for a public tally of how many civilians are killed in CIA drone strikes each year. AP: http://abcn.ws/R0vntJ

-- In an op-ed, Garrett Berntsen, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, asks whether the statistic that 22 veterans a day die from suicide reveals the full extent and nature of the problem. The Baltimore Sun: http://bsun.md/1rK5wUe

-- Heroin and alcohol killed two former Navy SEALs working as guards on board the Maersk Alabama, according to officials in the Seychelles. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1o2xWGX

-- HAGEL’S SENATE CHIEF LOU ANN LINEHAN JOINS DCI GROUP: The PR, lobbying and consulting shop DCI Group has hired Lou Ann Linehan as a senior counselor, the firm tells POLITICO Influence. In her new job, she’ll work mostly on national defense and foreign policy issues. Linehan has more than 25 years of service in government and politics — including stints at the State Department and in the office of then-Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).

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About The Author

Kate Brannen is a defense reporter for POLITICO Pro.

Before coming to POLITICO, Brannen covered congress for Defense News, providing regular coverage of the budget debate on Capitol Hill and its implications for national security. Previously, she spent three years covering the U.S. Army — first as a reporter for InsideDefense.com, then as the land warfare correspondent for Defense News.

Brannen graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, with a bachelor's degree in history. She has received graduate degrees from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and School of International and Public Affairs.